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Spreading the Word through Public Service Announcements
What is a PSA?
Public service announcements (PSAs) are broadcasts in the public interest. They are educational messages designed to focus public attention on serious issues. PSAs are non-commercial, non-denominational, and non-political. PSAs may be used to convey general information, announce a public event, or seek new resources or clients.
Who Runs a PSA?
Television, radio, and print media run some form of PSAs. Local media outlets will be ideal to get your message out. The PSAs should run in 10-, 15-, 30-, or 60-second segments, depending on the amount of time provided by the public service director.
Why are PSAs Useful?
PSAs are a cost-effective method of reaching many in your target audience. The issues that PSAs cover are timely, national in scope, and applicable to all Americans.
Spreading the Word through Public Service Announcements
Why?
Public Service Announcements (PSAs) may be used to convey general information, announce a public event, or seek new resources or clients. PSAs cannot be used for political purposes; if a PSA has a political slant, it will likely be rejected.
Who?
Television, radio, and print media run some form of PSAs. Local media outlets will be ideal to get your message out. Consider video PSAs for cable access programs and other television broadcasts, and written PSAs for radio and printed community calendars. Often for radio, the information will be read by the announcer or incorporated in a show.
What?
For television broadcast, send your video PSA with a letter and the PSA text. For radio and print, submit the PSA in written form and include contact information and a brief description of your organization.
When writing a Public Service Announcement, present the information in this format
From: (Name of Organization)
(Address)
Contact: (name of contact person in your organization with phone number)
For use: (list the dates for use of this item)
Length: (time it takes to read the PSA)
Type your PSA message in a paragraph form after the contact information. Double Space. Make sure to include the basic who, what, where, when, and why information. Do not forget to leave out any special details about cost or phone numbers that people might need to know.
***Make your introduction as interesting as possible.
Very Important.
At the bottom of the page, make sure you specify that your organization is a non-profit organization that serves the public. In another sentence describe the service available to the public through your organization.
Should I Develop a PSA for Radio or Television?
Radios spots are generally less expensive to develop and produce, but they don t have the same visual impact of a television PSA. Television PSAs take more resources and can be harder to place. Assess your needs and resources, and then talk to several public service directors in order to finalize your strategy. More information on submitting a radio PSA appears below.
More information on submitting television PSAs.
Submitting a Radio PSA
Radio PSAs can be short, scripted announcements read by the stations deejays on the air during regular programming. The popularity of the deejay can boost effectiveness. Typically, live radio PSAs are not rehearsed thoroughly and your organization will not have much control over the on-air personality.
Some radio stations require that the PSA proposals are taped and ready to air. Call ahead of time and ask the public service director if he prefers a cassette tape or reel-to-reel for the finished product. Double check that you have the appropriate length and formatting for the live radio copy.
Submit a printed copy of the PSA, along with your prerecorded tape, to the station and type, "Tape Enclosed" at the top or end of the PSA script. Type: Public Service ANNOUNCEMENT at the top of the page so the journalist immediately knows what she s reading.
Time your copy with a stopwatch. Read it aloud to see how it sounds. Write 12 seconds of script for a 15-second spot, and 27 seconds for a 30 second spot. This allows for the variation in the announcer's speech pattern and will assure that all your information gets read.
When writing a Public Service Announcement, present the information in this format:
Public Service Announcement
From: (Name of Organization)
(Address)
Contact: (name of contact person in your organization with phone number)
For use: (list the dates for use of this item)
Length: (time it takes to read the PSA)
The body of your PSA message should be typed in paragraph form. Double or triple space. Make sure to include the basic who, what, where, when, and why information. Include relevant contact information and phone numbers.
Very Important.
At the bottom of the page, make sure you specify that your organization is a non-profit organization that serves the public. In another sentence, describe the service available to the public through your organization.
If the text copy spills over to the second page, try to finish the first page at the end of a paragraph, or at least at the end of a sentence. Also, put "-more-" at the bottom of the first page. This will alert the station managers to the extent of our programming. At the top of the 2nd page, type a brief heading (flush left or flush right, but not centered) that includes the name of your organization, the date, the page number, and topic of the announcement. Mark the end of the story with a "# # #."
PSA Guidelines
Here are some basic guidelines for developing a PSA:
- Listen first! Target specific radio stations, television programs, and print outlets, according to your desired audience.
- Check with the radio/television stations to see what lengths of PSAs would work for the broadcast. Most stations broadcast PSAs early in the morning or very late in the evening. Ask the station s Public Service director to consider placing your PSA in an available day or prime time spot.
- Always send a letter on your organization's letterhead asking for the PSA to be run. (Remember to include why the service to the community is important, and that you are a non-profit organization.)
- Put a desired start and end date for the PSA. If there is no limit, just label it. (TFN- "Till Further Notice")
- Be absolutely sure you give enough lead-time in getting the material to the station. Send the information about 3-4 weeks before you want the spot to start airing. If possible, visit the station to hand-deliver your PSA and meet the Public Service director.
- Be absolutely sure you give enough lead-time in getting the material to the station. Send the information about 3-4 weeks before you want the spot to start airing.
- Follow-up with a phone call, a fax, or an email to make sure that your material arrived.
- For radio PSAs: time your copy with a stopwatch. Read it aloud to see how it sounds. Write 12 seconds of script for a 15-second spot, and 27 seconds for a 30 second spot. This allows for the variation in the announcer's speech pattern and will assure that all your information gets read.
Additional Resources:
Another excellent resource for developing Public Service Announcements can be found on the Goodwill Communications web site. This site includes background articles, tips for developing a good PSA, media profiles, checklists for production, and many other useful tools.
Sample PSA
From: Community Action Agency
Main Street
Anytown, USA 55555
Contact: Linda Evanston
Phone: (xxx) xxx-xxxx
For Use: January 19 February 10
Length: 30 seconds
Wondering how to cut your energy bill and make your home warmer this winter? Come learn about basic weatherization measures for your home. The Community Action Agency is sponsoring a free home weatherization workshop for all community residents.
Join these trained technicians on Saturday, February 10, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., at the Harris Community Center. In addition to energy-saving tips, you'll learn how to avoid common health hazards, such as carbon monoxide poisoning. For more information contact Ms. Linda Evanston at (xxx) xxx-xxxx.
The Community Action Agency is a non-profit organization that serves low-income residents in the tri-county area. Our Weatherization Program reduces the energy burden on low-income residents by installing cost-effective energy efficiency measures, while ensuring their health and safety.
REALLY?
Still unsure about developing your own PSA? Think it looks too good to be true? Look at the following example from Colorado and notice how Colorado used text from the Weatherization Day 2000 press release template to develop their PSA. You can do it too!
Here is a second
example from Community Housing Partners in Virginia.
Winter is Here
:15 Public Service Announcement
A chill in the night air. Frost on the car windows in the morning. There's no doubt about it, winter is here. Energy $aving Partners provides no cost Weatherization services to low-income, senior and disabled Coloradans. Call toll-free 1-888-HEATLINE (1-888-432-8546).
Video Public Service Announcements
Texas' Department of Housing and Community Affairs prepared 3 video PSAs featuring the Governor. The PSA has already been run on 15 of the targeted stations in Texas.
You can view the digital files using Windows Media Player (download at
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/download/AllDownloads.aspx?displang=en&qstechnology Click on the following links to view the PSAs.
30 second PSA
30 second PSA (in Spanish)
15 second PSA
Content updated on 2/13/2009
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